Let's tech communicate
April 2024
In each edition of Let's tech communicate, we list articles, tools and links we hope will help you with your everyday mahi as a technical communicator.
Updated alt text and image descriptions guide
Veronica Lewis, insider expert on how to write alt text and image descriptions for the visually impaired (including the blind/low vision audience), has updated this guide on the nitty gritty of writing good alt text for images.
The article also includes a handy infographic (complete with capybara) for quick reference.
How to write alt text and image descriptions for the visually impaired
Become a content hero with WCAG accessibility skills
Contented.com have just updated their accessible content writing courses to include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2.
Is it time to build your accessibility skills? Why not give one of these a go?
Contented’s web accessibility standards courses
Comparison of different AI writing tools
The most well-known generative AI tools are all capable of creating written text. This article focuses on those that specifically provide features and functions designed to assist with writing. These are some of the most useful and interesting players on the field right now.
5+ generative AI writing tools everybody should know about (Forbes)
UX writing: study guide
From the Nielsen Norman Group, this site is a one-stop shop for articles about designing content for the ultimate website user-experience (UX). Jam-packed with articles that look at all aspects of UX, you'll find a gem that improves your readers' experience.
How people read online
Knowing how people read websites helps us design sites that will work. This article from the Nielsen Norman Group looks at eye-tracking to see what it tells us over a twenty-year period. What's remarkable is how many of the ways readers use websites haven't changed.
How people read online: new and old findings
Why words matter
New Zealand’s Plain Language Awards group show us why we need to champion the power of plain language – through real life examples of complex language letting vulnerable people down.
They also remind us that anyone can nominate examples of good plain language – or the worst brainstrainy communications – we come across out in the New Zealand or Australian public.